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Question 4 Attracts Mounting Interest

Controversial Issue Stirs Public Debate Over Political Mechanism to
Choose Vineyard Boat Line Governor

By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer

The purple and white bumper stickers are somewhat primitive,
produced on a home computer with no stickum, so they have to be fixed to
bumpers with Scotch tape. But if bumper stickers that fall off in the
rain carry a message about the group that made them, then in this case
the message is grass roots and underfunded.

Add to that, committed.

The printed message on the homemade bumper sticker is simple:
"Vote No on four."

On Nov. 5 Vineyard voters will face an important decision in
Question 4 on the ballot, a proposal to change the way the Vineyard
Steamship Authority governor is appointed. On the face of it, the
question appears benign: Should a special committee made up of one
selectman from each town and one member of the county commission be
established to appoint the Vineyard boat line governor?

In truth, Question 4 is rooted in the hostile politics surrounding
the Steamship Authority over the last year, and the language was written
by former New Bedford city solicitor George Leontire. For 42 years the
Vineyard boat line member has been appointed by the county commission.

But Mr. Leontire and a group of Vineyard public officials were
unhappy after the county commission voted 4-3 last December to replace
former boat line governor J.B. Riggs Parker with Kathryn A. Roessel. The
result was the referendum question, which was added to the recent bill
adopted by the state legislature to restructure the boat line.

Question 4 only appears on the Vineyard ballot. Locally, it has been
something of a sleeper in a state election year marked by widespread
voter apathy and a lackluster race for governor.

But this week Vineyard residents began to wake up.

"The Vineyard Steamship Authority governor has been appointed
by the county commission since 1960, and by my count that's
something like 42 years and I see no reason to change it,"
declared Nora Nevin, a Tisbury resident who is helping to organize a No
on Question 4 campaign. In addition to the bumper stickers, the group is
distributing flyers in mailboxes this week and has begun a
letter-writing campaign.

Supporters of Question 4 dismiss any suggestion that the referendum
question is rooted in a series of questionable political maneuvers in
the state legislature last year.

"I think it came out of the Vineyard. I think it comes out
every time you have to make that appointment, and I think this is a much
fairer way to do it," said Dukes County commissioner Leonard Jason
Jr.

Critics of the question have another view.

"The only reason anyone has suggested there should be a change
was because they were unhappy with the last appointment, and to me that
is not a valid reason for making a change - the fundamental
reasoning is wrong," said E.B. Collins, a county commissioner who
is also a former Vineyard Steamship Authority governor.

The question is binding, and the outcome will be determined by a
simple majority of Vineyard voters.

Both sides began to show their colors this week.

"I'm opposed to it. It should be up to the Vineyard to
decide whether they want to change the method of appointment -
it's not a question that should be dictated by legislation
directed only at the Vineyard," said Ronald H. Rappaport, a
prominent Vineyard attorney who was the Vineyard boat line governor for
seven years.

"It should be coming from the Vineyard to the legislature and
it should be our choice; it's our community; it should be our
choice. That's the way the home rule process works, but this is
home rule in reverse. If you want to have a round of town meetings, let
people debate it out, let people select another process, that's
fine, but that's not how this is working," he added.

"I'm going to vote to allow the selectmen to select the
member - I believe the decision should rest with the people who
ultimately have to pay the bill, and that is the different towns, so
I'm going to vote yes," countered Mr. Jason.

More than one person pointed to the back-room dealing that led to
the referendum question in the first place.

"Let's put it this way: This did not happen because of
any public process on the Vineyard," said Mrs. Nevin.

"This was all done pretty much in the back room and there was
no public communication in the process. It was all decided by a group of
selectmen, and I didn't know anything about it at the time because
I was on the opposite side. It was pushed through," said Roger
Wey, a county commissioner.

"It came about totally outside the public process - this
question was promulgated by and drafted by the city of New Bedford. The
notion that the city of New Bedford would dictate our public process is
offensive, and it's analogous to us telling the city how to elect
their city council," said Robert Sawyer, a county commissioner who
is running for reelection.

County commissioners who support Question 4 claim that it will allow
more representation in the selection process.

"My thinking behind that is it now gives each town a voice,
and if you sort of look at the total number of selectmen that would be
involved and their constituents, you're talking 20 people. For
those major reasons and also the fact that often a couple of towns are
not represented per se on the county commission, I am voting for
it," said county commissioner Leslie Leland, who is running for
reelection

Dan Flynn, a county commissioner who is running for reelection, said
he supports Question 4 because he is generally opposed to county
government.

"I definitely will vote for it - I was one of the first
people who supported it; I believe that politics on Martha's
Vineyard, like everywhere else, is local and if we're going to
have a regional government, it should be the selectmen," Mr. Flynn
said.

"There is no need to have a county commission and there never
was. The body is pretty much useless. We need regional services but we
can let the selectmen be the county government," he added.

Mr. Collins, who will not seek reelection to the county commission
this year, had another view.

"The county commissioners are elected Islandwide and there are
seven of them. Everybody on the Vineyard has the opportunity to vote for
the county commissioners; the selectmen are elected only by the towns
they represent," he said. "I live in Edgartown but as a
county commissioner I don't think Edgartown, I think Dukes County,
and I always try to think of things from a countywide standpoint,
that's the way I think we are supposed to think."

Mr. Sawyer said if Question 4 is approved, it will create an unusual
committee that is accountable to no one.

"We would be creating a committee that had no other purpose in
life other than to appoint the Steamship Authority governor, a committee
that is unavailable to public process. County commissioners are elected
by all the people on the Island; we are a regional entity. If the public
has a problem with county commissioners, they know how to get rid of us
at the polls," Mr. Collins said.

Mr. Wey agreed: "If you want to change how it's done,
you should change the players, the county commissioners," he said.

Mr. Leland said if there are any concerns about the process, the
voters can speak through the ballot box.

"They certainly have time now to voice their concerns; if they
don't want it, they don't have to vote for it," he
said.

But Mr. Rappaport questioned the nature of the beast. "Why is
the Vineyard being singled out as a community of change? It's
obvious it's a political game," he said.